The Real Naruto
by NoNameNeeded
Summary: When Team 7 are out on a Brank mission, things take a turn for the worst when one of them dies, but what happens when they find out that that person didn't die. So what happens next? AU, slight OCish characters. DISCONTINUED
1. The mission begins

This story takes place when the rookie nine are seventeen years old. The teams are the same as they were during the chuunin exam, as Sasuke has returned after successfully killing his brother and leaving a seriously wounded Orochimaru to die, though he was not sure if he did. Team seven had been called in to the Hokage's office to be assigned on a mission. They were all now high level chuunin and they were nearing the jounin exams, which they would be taking part in.

_Knock, knock…_

"Hn."

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see us." Sakura said as the three bowed.

"Yes, I have a B-ranked mission for. You must escort and protect the son of one of the counsel members up north to the country of shadow. There you will help him conduct his research. He will be gathering information about the land there, seeing as it is basically unknown to us. Kakashi was supposed to be here as well but I see that he 'is lost on the road of life' as he might say. So tell him the details before tomorrow morning because that is when you are leaving. You'll meet at the northern gate at eight o'clock sharp. You'll have four months to complete this. Any questions? No? Good. You are all dismissed." Tsunade finished.

There was a poof and all three of the chuunins were gone. There was then another knock on the door and in came a seventeen year old, who was wearing; black ninja sandals, baggy black trousers which had countless pockets full of weapons and scrolls on, a black shirt and a long black trench coat, which also had some pockets full of weapons and scrolls. He also had a pair of black fingerless gloves which had metal spikes on the knuckles. His arms and legs were also covered with white wrapping and so was his neck and face, excluding the eyes. His eyes were a bright ocean blue which you could just get lost in. He had a large black hood which covered his hair, so no-one in the whole village know what his hair was like.

"Ah, Kioi, glad to see you're back safe, though I had no doubts that you wouldn't be. I see you completed your mission promptly as per usual. I get nothing but the best from you. Sorry to keep piling these up on you but I have just received an S-ranked mission for you. You must 'get rid' of three ANBU from the country of earth. They have turned rogue and have been terrorizing villages there, and conducting countless crimes. They are extremely dangerous, but for you, it shouldn't be a problem. You'll be leaving immediately."

Kioi nodded and was gone, he didn't need any smoke bombs to disappear, he had found his own way to do so; he just simply vanished into thin air. 

_Hmm… Why doesn't the he ever show anyone what he truly looks like. No-one knows how he looks like… Except for those beautiful blue eyes… They're a lot like Naruto's…_ Tsunade thought to herself. All her life, she had never come across anyone more mysterious then that guy. He truly was something.

…

Later that day, when Tsunade was still going through her dreaded paperwork, there was a knock on the door. She grunted, which, when translated, means 'come in quietly I just need to finish this'. But when she looked up, she was shocked to see who was standing there.

"Ki-Kioi… You're already back… did you forget something?" 

"No. I finished the mission. I found the three guys extremely drunk. They were in the middle of a fight with each other, so I didn't really have to do that much to, as you said, 'get rid of them'."

"I see. Well… I haven't got any high missions for you to do… I only have a couple of C-ranked, oh and I have one B-rank… that is if you want it?" Kioi just shrugged, meaning that he would do it, even if it was a waste of time for him.

"Ok then. You need to escort the Mizukage's daughter back home." Kioi nodded and was off.

…_He's going to make one hell of a Hokage… He just needs some people skills… _Tsunade thought to herself. She had decided long ago that she would want him to become the next Hokage… He was already much more powerful then herself, and anyone else she knew for that matter. 

_**The next morning…**_

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were waiting at the gates. Kakashi was yet to arrive and they could see the counsel member's son approaching. When he had reached them they all bowed respectfully to him. 

"Hello, my name is Hinoiri. It is nice to meet you and thank you for your help." He then bowed to the team. 

Just then Kakashi popped out of nowhere, with his eyes stuck in his Icha Icha book. 

"Kakashi! You're late again!" Naruto shouted, he was obviously very annoyed with his sensei.

"I'm sorry… I found some gum on my shoe and I…"

"We don't wanna hear your sorry excuse, we just wanna leave so that we can do our mission!" Naruto shouted, again.

"Very well." So the five of them headed off North.

_**Three days later…**_

Team Kakashi and Hinoiri had been traveling, and they had covered a fair amount of distance. They had only stopped twice a day, to eat and rest. Kakashi was impressed with Hinoiri as he had been able to keep up with the fast pace which they were at.

It was getting dark so they decided to set up camp. Naruto went to collect wood, Sasuke set up the tents, Sakura cooked the food, Hinoiri was going through his scrolls, writing down details and such and Kakashi was just sitting against a tree, reading his precious Icha Icha book.

When they had all eaten, they sat down by the fire, enjoying the good weather. They all soon drifted into sleep.

"They're asleep… we can get them now…" A man with a hoarse voice whispered.

"They're too careless…" Whispered the other. The two then started creeping towards they group. The first man wore all brown; his coat, shirt, trousers, shoes and a mask. He had two giant swords. The other one, who was about a foot shorter, wore an identical wardrobe but instead of two swords, he had a large bow. On his back he had a pouch containing many arrows which had all been dipped in poison.

The two decided to go for the jounin first so that they could get him out of the way as they knew he would be the hardest to beat. But when the first guy had plunged both of his swords into Kakashi's chest, they were shocked to see it just explode.

"It must be a shadow clone. He knew we were coming… But where is he then if he isn't here…" He had been interrupted.

"Looking for me?" Kakashi taunted as he stood on a branch, high above the ground.

"How did you know that we were coming?"

"You breathing is quite loud for a shinobi."

The two shinobis cursed before the shorter one shot a quick arrow at Kakashi. But a kunai hit it, redirecting it into a nearby tree.

"Who did that?!"

"I did." Sasuke said in his 'I-couldn't-help-but-show-off' voice.

"How dare you. Do you even know who we are?"

"I'm guessing by your forehead protectors that you are shinobis from the hidden village of light. Am I right?"

"Nice. But that isn't enough for you to defeat us, for we are Kuro and Sendo. I'm sure at least one of you have heard of us."

"Everyone, get behind me. These two are extremely dangerous. They are jounin level and they are not to be messed around with." Kakashi then pushed his forehead protector up to reveal his sharingan eye.

"We are truly honoured to be in the presence of the great copy-cat-ninja, or as some people call him; sharingan Kakashi." The two mocked. 

"You four, run. I'll hold them off. Get Hinoiri to safety. Now!" Kakashi shouted.

"No need for that. We'll be coming back later. We're not in the mood for a fight right now." The two then left.

The all stood still until they were sure that the two were gone.

"This is turning out to be a lot similar to our first mission in the wave country." Kakashi grumbled. 


	2. we meet again

The group of five had finally entered the country of shadow. There had been no more trouble since the incident with Kuro and Sendo. They had made good progress with both the distance covered and the information gathered. Many of the things that they noticed when they entered the country was that it was usually cloudy, with few glimpses of the sun, the trees were tall and slim, with dark green leaves, flowers were rare and the ones found only consisted of dark colours. They could see why it was called the country of shadows. Everything was so dark and gloomy.

"How do people stand living in a place like this?" Sakura asked quietly, not blinking once as she was trying to take it all in.

"I guess that they just get use to living in a place like this. They've probably never left so they don't know any other way to live I suppose." Kakashi answered matter-of-factly. Even he couldn't take his eyes off the place; he even put his book back into his pocket.

"Man… it's so dark… I mean, even I'm starting to feel a little depressed." Said the usually hyperactive blond.

The five of them just carried on walking, careful as to not make a sound. They were all getting weary of their surroundings, careful not to attract any unwanted attention, even though no-one was around.

They walked for a couple of hours before they reached a small village. It was gloomy and slightly deserted. There were a couple of people asleep, leaning against the walls of the buildings, which were mainly different shades of grey. The five of them stood out like a sore thumb, as their clothing was brightly coloured compared to everyone else's.

"What's wrong with this place?" Sakura muttered.

"I can't say." Kakashi replied.

They carried on walking until they found a hotel. When they walked inside, people were giving them weird looks; of confusion, hatred or sadness. When they asked for three rooms, they had just been given the keys by a short man. They then walked upstairs to find said rooms.

Inside, all of the rooms were identical; consisting of a plain bed, a candle which was on a small table and a closet. A bathroom was situated on either end of each floor of the hotel.

The all decided to rest there for the remainder of the day before carrying on the next day.

_**Next morning…**_

They all woke up at around the same time, got dressed and gathered their things. When they went to get breakfast, all they found were some pieces of bread and water. Everything in this town was so plain and boring.

So when they had finished eating they decided to take off again, as they had already attracted too much attention from the villagers.

…

They had been running for hours, they had felt another presence following them. But that feeling was gone so they decided to take a break, to rest a little.

"I don't like this… not one bit." Naruto said, surprisingly quietly.

"Yeah, me neither." Sakura said, getting a chill down her back.

But little did they know that they were actually being watched, they had been for the whole day. There were two, and they just sat up in a tree, hidden whilst smirking at how easy their task would be. You see, they had been hired to get rid of Team Kakashi and Hinoiri because their boss didn't want anyone to find out about what he had been doing and planning in the country of shadow. It would ruin the whole plan.

"Do you think it's time?"

"Yeah, they're exhausted. Just look at them."

When they had finished mocking them, they decided that it was time to move in. They crept in together, taking their time and enjoying the moment when they had the advantage of surprise. Kuro was the first to jump in, with his sword ready in his hand, whilst Sendo stayed up in the trees, taking aim with his bow and arrow.

Kuro threw a kunai at Kakashi, but it was caught. Kakashi immediately stood up and pushed his forehead protector up. This was going to be one hell of a fight they were both thinking.

The others were now standing up and the three chuunin were around Hinoiri, so that it would be easier for them to guard him. Little did they know that Sendo was also there, they had indeed forgotten about him. Sendo took his aim, held it there… then fired.

The arrow whizzed past the trees, aiming straight for Hinoiri, but just before it hit him, it had been blocked.

"Wh-what happened?" Mumbled a scared-to-death Hinoiri. But before anyone else could say anything they both saw what, or who had taken the arrow.

"Naruto…" Cried a shocked Sakura. The others were too shocked to say anything, all they could do was stare. "The arrows poisoned…" Sakura was now weeping for her fallen teammate.

When Kakashi heard Sakura's cry he turned around to find Naruto lying on the ground, not moving, with an arrow piercing his heart. "…Naruto… no…" He was now mad, very mad. He traveled all of his anger to his opponent, Kuro. With one punch with his fist, Kuro was knocked out. Seeing this, Kakashi ran over to Naruto.

Everyone had gathered around him. The colour of his skin was becoming pale, the light from his blue eyes becoming dull, his smile fading. Sakura tried to heal her comrade, but nothing was working, he was dying.

"… I… I'm… I'm sorry…" Were the last words which they heard from him before he closed his eyes.

Sakura put two fingers to his throat to feel his pulse. Nothing. "… He-he-he's dead… He's really dead…" They were all crying, even Sasuke. Tears were overflowing from their eyes. They were sad that he was gone, sad that he couldn't fulfill his dream and sad that he had given his life for another.

But, something strange started to happen. Instead of his body just lying there, it started to fade, until it was nothing.

Everyone looked in shock, they could have sworn that he had been right there. Had they just imagined it all? No, everyone was crying, acknowledging that he had been there.

_**Meanwhile…**_

Kioi was sitting in Tsunade's office, telling her what had happened during his mission. Saying that they had come across some bandits, but they had been easily taken care of.

"I must congratulate you on your mission. Your records are growing and growing with each passing day. I think…" Tsunade didn't manage to finish what she was saying as she saw Kioi clutching his left arm tightly towards his body. His eyes were scrunched together.

"Wh-what's wrong Kioi… What's happened to you?" Just then, the pain stopped and Kioi stood up.

"Nothing, but I have to go now."

"Wh… y-yes, of course…" But he had already gone. _Something must be going on, but I won't be able to keep up with him… I'll just have to wait until he returns… If he returns that is…_

_**Three hours later…**_

Everyone was still mourning for Naruto. It was so quiet without the hyperactive blond. He always found a way to make them feel better, but he couldn't do that anymore, he was gone. Their senses were down, and they didn't notice that someone was approaching them. But they didn't care about it to be honest. They already missed Naruto dearly.

"There's no point in crying…" Everyone turned around in shock to see who had said those words. They saw a boy of about seventeen, who was wearing; black ninja sandals, baggy black trousers which had countless pockets full of weapons and scrolls on, a black shirt and a long black trench coat, which also had some pockets full of weapons and scrolls. He also had a pair of black fingerless gloves which had metal spikes on the knuckles. His arms, legs, neck and indeed his head were hidden by white wrapping.

"How dare you say that… You don't even know what happened…" Sasuke shouted, his sharingan now activated.

"Oh, but I do."

"How would you possibly know! You weren't even here to see it!" Sasuke was now coming at Kioi, ready to throw a punch. But Kioi disappeared, and quickly reappeared to where the others were.

"Who are you?! Tell me now!" Now it was Kakashi's turn to be angry.

"People know me as Kioi…" He paused when he saw everyone reaction.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kakashi said, stuttering for the first time in his life. He had obviously heard of him, so had everyone else but they were too scared to say anything.

"What is Kioi, the top ninja, doing here?!" Kakashi repeated.


	3. The Painful Truth

"Naruto... the Naruto which you know and love, he wasn't the real Naruto, he was only a clone."

"A clone… but how can that be? I've seen him bleed, and get hurt… he has never done anything to indicate that he was clone…" Sakura said but was interrupted.

"That's because he was a special clone. I used one of my many jutsus. You see, when I was little, about two I think… I was sick of how I was treated, people hating me, ignoring me and even attacking me… they all wanted me dead… Their prejudice is what did this. They made me want to become the best. I trained hard, always pushing myself, never taking a break. But no-one knew about it. I taught myself everything… then one day, as I was trying out a new jutsu, I made an exact replica of myself… But it wasn't just a simple bunshin no jutsu, or even a kage bunshin no jutsu… I had invented a new jutsu; the shinko bunshin no jutsu. This allows me to make an actual living clone of myself…" He paused again to allow the others to take it in.

"My clone kept my name, whilst I trained. I changed my name to Kioi and then the third Hokage found out about me. He saw that I had potential and he saw how I'd suffered. So at the age of five, I became a genin, and the following year, I became a chuunin. When I was seven, I became a jounin and when eight, I was an ANBU. But I was kept as a secret, no-one knew about me, with the exception of the third."

"But that still wasn't enough. I carried on pushing myself to the limit and even then I didn't stop. By the age of ten I was of Kage level."

After he had stopped, everyone just sat there in silence. They couldn't understand how someone could be so powerful at such a young age.

"… S-so you m-mean to tell us that N-Naru… that he wasn't the real one, that he was just your c-clone?" Sakura said.

"Yes… it was too late for me to personally join the academy, as my clone already had. There was no way that I would be able to fit in. I couldn't pretend to be the Naruto that you knew… we were identical in looks, but complete opposites in strength and heart. So I let him live his life there. Meanwhile, I was constantly on missions, mainly S-rank or above. That was what my life was focused about. Completing the missions that others wouldn't or couldn't."

"But when my clone died, I felt a part of me dying, as he was a part of me. That's how I knew…"

"So all this time… Our friend wasn't even real?"

"Not quite… he was real, but not like you and I."

"So you're the real Naruto… why did you call yourself Kioi?"

"Because I didn't want anyone to find out. And it seemed that he was happy, and he had such a big impact on everyone, so I didn't want to ruin that… Kioi was just a name and nothing more. This is also why I wear what I wear. To make sure that no-one would find out. However… I never expected him to die… That thought never occurred to me." Kioi now sat down.

"In a way, your Naruto was my first friend, though we didn't spend any time together… The third was also my friend, but when he died, I became a wreck, I was taking on more missions, even ones as low as B-rank. I just needed to be kept occupied. Now that he's gone… I have no-one… I never had anyone, but they were the closest…"

Sakura could here the pain that Naruto was in, so she walked over and sat down beside him, placing an arm around his shoulder.

"You don't have to be alone…" Sakura said in a sweet voice, reassuring Naruto… He looked up and, for the first time in his life, he smiled… it wasn't a fake one, but a proper smile. Sakura was having an impact on him already. They had only known each other for a minutes.

Kakashi was the next to come over, he crouched down behind him and gave him one of his everything-is-going-to-be-alright smiles.

Sasuke on the other hand was still in shock. His closest friend, his only friend… was nothing more then a clone… He wasn't even real… It was all a lie… He couldn't take this… He turned around and punched the nearest tree, enforcing his punch with chakra, making it fall down to the ground with a loud thump.


	4. Telling Tsunade

After two weeks of traveling, they had arrived back at Konoha, but no-one was the same as when they had left.

When they had reached the door which lead to Tsunade's office, they stopped, afraid of what her reaction might be. No-one wanted to be on Tsunade's bad side.

Eventually they knocked on the door,

"Enter…"

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke entered slowly with their hands fidgeting.

As Tsunade looked up, she saw that Naruto wasn't there and that everyone else was trying to not look her in the eye.

"… Oh Kami… Where's Naruto… Tell me! Where is Naruto!" Tsunade shouted at the top of her voice with tears about to erupt.

The three of them sat down on the chairs by the desk before Tsunade eventually sat back down in her chair.

"Is he… Is he… dead?" Tsunade managed to get out.

"Well… sort of…" Kakashi dared to say. But he could tell that she wanted more of an answer then just that. Just then, Kioi appeared in the room.

"I'm sorry Kioi, but this isn't the time. I must ask you to leave." She said, avoiding eye contact.

"Actually… he needs to be here…" Kakashi said.

"What do you mean? What? Has he got something to do with this?!" Tsunade was glaring at Kioi now, if looks could kill, then Kioi would have been long gone.

"Yes he does, but not in the way that you think he's involved." Kakashi comforted.

"Someone tell me what is going on right NOW!" Tsunade was obviously very pissed off now. She wasn't one to be messed around with.

Everyone sat there, not sure who should tell her and not wanting to be the one to tell her.

"Well? I'm waiting!"

Kioi stepped in. He used his most soothing voice and said this slowly to calm her down. "Tsunade. On their mission, they came across Kuro and Sendo. Whilst Kuro was fighting Kakashi, Sendo was hiding in the trees, taking aim at Hinoiri with his bow and arrow. But the Naruto that you all knew jumped in front of Hinoiri and the arrow hit his heart… But the thing is. He wasn't the real Naruto… The Naruto that you all knew and loved was… he was a clone…"

"A clone?! How could that be?!" Tsunade demanded.

"… He was… He was my clone…"

"What? Your clone? You mean to tell me that you're the real Naruto Uzumaki?" Tears of sadness and confusion were flowing down her cheeks. _That's why when I looked into his eyes, I always thought of Naruto… my little brother…_

"Yes… You see, when I was two, I had become sick of the way I was treated by everyone. So instead of hiding or crying, I trained. I trained to become the best, to surpass everyone. At the age of five I was a genin, at six I was a chuunin, at seven I was a jounin and finally at the age of eight, I was an ANBU. The third was the only one who knew about all of this. He made sure that it was kept as a secret. I did all the exams by myself, without a team. But all of that still wasn't enough, so trained until I past my limit, but I still didn't stop. At the age of ten, my strength and ability was higher then a Kage. By then, it was too late for me to take the place of my clone… He had become as real as he could be, he was part of everyone's lives and I couldn't change that, so I let him be. Instead I concentrated on my missions and my missions alone, but when the third died, I was devastated. The only thing I could do was to do more missions."

Tsunade had just been staring blindly at her desk. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her little brother was just a clone. But wait… How could a clone last so long. It had even been injured and she had healed it… It wasn't a normal clone, that's for sure.

"What type of clone could live so long and act like a human?" Tsunade said blankly, still staring at her desk.

"It was during my training that I came across it. I was two at the time. It's called Shinko Bunshin no Jutsu. It's one of my own, so I didn't expect anyone to know about it."

"…Take you mask off, show us your face…" Tsunade pleaded.

"I'm sorry… I can't do that. I haven't taken it off in nearly fifteen years… It wouldn't feel right…"

"Please… I need to see his face… see your face…" Tsunade was now looking at him in the eye, with tears overflowing. It was almost unbearable to see someone as powerful as her looking so needy and vulnerable as she was now.

Slowly, Naruto began unraveling the wrappings which he had on. He began on his arms, slowly leading to his legs. He then paused for a while before starting at his neck, his speed slowly decelerating as he got closer to his face. Eventually it was all off. Everyone just sat there, staring at him, not quite believing what they were seeing. There in front of them, stood a boy of five foot nine, whisker marks on either cheeks, deep blue eyes and blond hair, though it was longer then his clones. His skin was also paler due to that fact that it had been hidden from the sun for all of these years. Everyone was studying his features. His build was slightly broader and his muscles much larger. His arms and legs were covered with scars on but the most shocking thing was that on his neck, there was a large scar, reaching from his top left jaw all the way to his right shoulder.

"Th-that scar, on your neck… where did you get that?" Tsunade said, concerned with what the boy had been up to.

Naruto stiffened a bit at the question but he eventually answered. "That is one of the marks I got from the many assassination attempts that I've had on me. All of my scars are, but the one on my neck was the one that came the closest to killing me, that was the one that made me realise that I had to become strong so that it wouldn't happen again." When Naruto finished, he was squeezing his fists so hard that they were becoming even more white then they already were. He was also looking away from everyone else because he didn't want them to see him crying, though it was only one tear, it was one more then he had shed since he got that scar. Suddenly, he felt a warm embrace, someone had put their arms around him. He looked up to see that it was Tsunade. _…So this is what it feels like… what it feels like when someone cares for you…_

Then, out of nowhere, he let it all out. All of those years of pain and suffering, were now coming out. He couldn't stop himself, he didn't want to stop himself. It felt good to let it all out.


	5. Telling the Rest

Two weeks past as both Sasuke and Sakura told Naruto everything about his clone, ranging from experiences, to friends. They had told him everything that he needed to know about them so that it wouldn't seem too suspicious. The three of them had also become quite close, even though they hadn't known each other for that long.

One day, the three of them decided to take a walk through Konoha for the first time together. Whilst they were walking through the busy market, Naruto got a few odd and confused stares from random people, as they had never seen the kid in any other colour then bright orange, let alone full black. But the three just ignored them.

As they were leaving the market, a guy in a green spandex outfit, followed by another guy with long hair and beige clothing and a girl wearing a pink top and blue trousers, jumped out in front of them.

"Hello Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Isn't it a wonderful day to be out? The sun is truly bright." The first guy said, whilst doing the nice guy pose. However, when he opened his eyes, his facial expression turned from that of a happy one to that of a shocked one. "Na-Na-Naruto… what happened to you?... How did you get all of those sca-sca-scars? An-and you've… you've grown?!" The spandex guy stopped as he was lost for words.

"… um… I'm sorry who are you?... Oh wait, you're Rock Lee, right?" Naruto turned to his new teammates, who nodded in response. "So, the Hyuuga over there is Neji, and if that's right, then she must be Tenten." Again, he turned to his friends who nodded back at him in response.

Neji started looking at Naruto suspiciously, like he thought that he was a fake. Sakura saw this and pulled him to the side and whispered, "I know what you're thinking, and before you say anything, yes, he is the real Naruto."

Then why is he acting so strangely and why does he look so much more different. I mean, his chakra capacity is even bigger then what I have sensed before."

Just then, Shikamaru popped up and said, "Rock Lee, Neji and Tenten, Tsunade wants to see you three. She's also wants to see our team and team eight along with our sensei's and Iruka, she said that it is very important."

"Then why doesn't she want to see team seven?"

"Don't ask me, I was just told to get you guys, now hurry up, everyone is already there and waiting for us." With that, team Gai left. Team seven decided to carry on walking.

It was nearing lunch time, and the three were beginning to get hungry.

"What does everyone say to Ichiraku?" Sakura said pleasantly.

"Ichiraku… that's that ramen stand you told me about, right?" Naruto questioned, still getting a hang of everything.

"Yes… It is also… was also Naruto's favourite place to eat. He absolutely adored ramen… if he could, he would have had ramen for every meal."

"But… it isn't good to eat that much ramen…"

"That never stopped Naruto."

"I guess that means that I'll have to like it as well."

_**In the Hokage's office…**_

All three teams and their sensei's were present as Tsunade sat back on her chair. Everyone was quiet before Neji spoke out,

"Hokage-sama, what's wrong with Naruto? I mean… he's acting really strange and he looks so different…"

Tsunade had interrupted him before he got a chance to finish. "That is exactly why I have called you all here." Everyone was dead silent, if a leaf landed on the floor then it would have been heard by everyone.

"If everyone remembers; team seven went on a mission to the country of shadow a couple of weeks ago. When there, they came across some trouble, the mission immediately turned from a B-rank, to a high A-rank, maybe even an S-rank." Everyone's jaws were now on the ground, but they quickly managed to pull them up again.

"They had been attacked by two incredibly dangerous jounins, who went by the mane of Kuro and Sendo." Tsunade paused to think of how she would say the next part.

"When engaged in battle, and arrow was shot, heading toward Hinoiri, whom the team were to protect… but… but…" her eyes began to water as a tear was rolling down her chin. "Naruto dived out in front of Hinoiri, and took the hit. It pierced his skin and went through his heart. The arrow was also poisoned. This would have killed Naruto if…" She paused again.

"What happened?" Hinata asked quietly, having lost her stutter a few years back.

Tsunade looked up at the Hyuuga before giving her a quick smile, then continued, "The thing is that he was a… he was a clone… he was never real." Tsunade looked directly down on her desk, still not quite getting use to the new Naruto.

Everyone else, however was in shock, the silence was tense and unpredictable.

After a couple of minutes of the unbearable silence, Gai was the one to break it, "So… if he was a clone… then that means that there must still be real one, right?"

Tsunade just nodded.

"…Do you know who he is?"

"…Yes… I do… I'm sure all of you have heard of the infamous Kioi."

Again, everyone was shocked, all of this was big news for them, they had had no idea.

"How was that possible? For a clone to last that long, even bleed and act like a human being." Kurenai broke in.

"It's simple really, once you think about it. It was one of Kioi's shinko bunshin no jutsu, which is a clone which has all of the characteristics of the person who did the jutsu. The clone was the result of the extraction of part of the user. It is like creating a new human being."

"So is Kioi really Uzumaki Naruto, or was Naruto just a name used?"

"Kioi is, indeed, the real Naruto."

_**At Ichiraku…**_

Sasuke and Sakura were done eating, only having two bowls each, however, Naruto was still at it, already on his eleventh.

"It seems that your clone was a lot more like you then we thought." Sakura said cheerfully.

Naruto just nodded, as he was busy eating his twelfth bowl. His manner of eating was also identical to that of his clone, also his appetite.

Sakura and Sasuke chuckled as they were happy at this newly acquired information about their friend.


End file.
